BBC News Coup

As debate about the future of the BBC seems to dominate broadsheet commentators these days, news of my old adversary, the news manipulator Kamal Ahmed, surfaced in Private Eye.  Apparently, in a great reorganisation, BBC news gathering will be centralised and compartmentalised into 10 “story” hubs.  It seems that individual programme editors will no longer be able to determine and commission their bespoke news editorial line, according to individual programme needs and potential audience.  Instead, programme editors will be required to pick and mix from Ahmed’s menu of “Planet,” “Learning,” “On the Day,” and “Digital & Social,” whatever all that means.  The Eye piece doesn’t mention coverage of “events” – this, presumably will be at supremo Ahmed’s discretion?  The Eye concludes that “the new scheme will turn the whole of BBC News, programmes included, into a massive sausage machine turning out homogenised sizzle-free news bangers to all outlets – whether they want them or not.” Given the endemic conscious and unconscious bias in the BBC already, we may not notice any discernible difference in the usual BBC news offering?  But surely it is time to stop this haemorrhage of public cash – licence fee funded or otherwise?